Universal Orlando August 1 Press Conference

[Magic-Man]

Updated prediction: Fantastic Worlds announced with a (relatively) short video, which will be put online later. Shows the past, present, and future. Afterwards, concept art of the park is shown. Similar Universal Studios Beijing's announcement art. Maybe a model of Super Nintendo World/Pokemon. Concept art/plans for the rest of Site-B shown, shows a hotel, the road work, and general area improvements. Opening 2022-24.

... Don’t count out special guests for this though.

Miyamoto, is that you?!

 

[Imperius]

Can someone check for Pikachu costume rentals near by?

 

[Scott W.]

Can someone check for Pikachu costume rentals near by?

If Shinzō Abe can dress up as Mario for the end of the 2016 Olympics then so can Mark Woodbury.

 

[Magic-Man]

The great thing about this all is that, even if we only get to see a single piece of concept art for the entire park (like what they did with Beijing), at least we'll finally have something to go off of when talking about the park. No more questions of what will be there. No more long time periods without rumors or info. We'll have all we need until vertical construction starts late next year/early 2021. It's over.

@Alicia you mentioned that you would put out an article if the park didn't get announced next week. Are there still plans to write that article anyways?

 

[yankees13]

What are the chances Universal scrapped early plans for this park and just make the new park completely Nintendo? Maybe that’s why these potential additions to IOA and USF kept getting scrapped? Just spitballing. Obviously there’s enough Nintendo IPs to satisfy an entire theme park worth of attractions and lands

 

[Magic-Man]

What are the chances Universal scrapped early plans for this park and just make the new park completely Nintendo? Maybe that’s why these potential additions to IOA and USF kept getting scrapped? Just spitballing. Obviously there’s enough Nintendo IPs to satisfy an entire theme park worth of attractions and lands

No chance at all, at least in my opinion. There's so much rumors and insider info that says otherwise.

 

[Imperius]

What are the chances Universal scrapped early plans for this park and just make the new park completely Nintendo? Maybe that’s why these potential additions to IOA and USF kept getting scrapped? Just spitballing. Obviously there’s enough Nintendo IPs to satisfy an entire theme park worth of attractions and lands

0. There aren’t enough popular Nintendo IPs to support a whole park. Also making it so one sided to video games shrinks your client base.

 

[Alicia]

@Alicia you mentioned that you would put out an article if the park didn't get announced next week. Is there still plans to write that article anyways?

Maybe. But let’s just say, keep an eye out for my next podcast after Thursday.

 

[MrBlonde]

No chance at all, at least in my opinion. There's so much rumors and insider info that says otherwise.

What are the chances Universal scrapped early plans for this park and just make the new park completely Nintendo? Maybe that’s why these potential additions to IOA and USF kept getting scrapped? Just spitballing. Obviously there’s enough Nintendo IPs to satisfy an entire theme park worth of attractions and lands

Theme parks generally try to avoid having only 1 IP support a major theme park. That would make the park only enticing to those who like that property. They sprinkle things throughout so there’s something for everyone.

 

[shiekra38]

What are the chances Universal scrapped early plans for this park and just make the new park completely Nintendo? Maybe that’s why these potential additions to IOA and USF kept getting scrapped? Just spitballing. Obviously there’s enough Nintendo IPs to satisfy an entire theme park worth of attractions and lands

Somewhere between zero and 100 percent

 

[anihilnation]

I am starting to wonder, if they announce FW this early, could they plan to have this open in 2022?

 

[Nick]

I am starting to wonder, if they announce FW this early, could they plan to have this open in 2022?

Possibly Fall 2022, but not likely.

They'd be pushing it and with it being a new park, i'd think they'd be better served making sure all the kinks are ironed out. Hell, they aren't even likely gonna be going vertical until sometime in the back-half of next year or even into 2021 potentially. 2022 doesn't seem feasible to me.

 

[Magic-Man]

Possibly Fall 2022, but not likely.

But they'd be pushing it and with it being a new park, i'd think they'd be better served making sure all the kinks are ironed out. Hell, they aren't even likely gonna be going vertical until sometime in the back-half of next year or even into 2021 potentially. 2022 doesn't seem feasible to me.

It really depends on how many groundbreaking attractions there are. If there's a bunch of state-of-the-art attractions there's no way this opens in 2022. If it's mostly clones and previously seen ride systems, then maybe.

 

[Scott W.]

I am starting to wonder, if they announce FW this early, could they plan to have this open in 2022?

I was thinking this also. That would be a big bombshell to drop.

Possible? Yes. Probably? No.

Even if they have a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, a 3 year build seems like a tough challenge for something on this scale. 2 years seems to be the average build time for most rides but the infrastructure just isn't there yet.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Universal should play it safe and plan for 2023. I know I want this to open asap, but I want a good park. Hagrid, JW and anything else they add to the current parks should be enough to entertain me for 4 years.

 

[Alicia]

I’d say 2023, at the earliest.

 

[s8film40]

I still don’t understand why everyone seems to think this will take so long. 2023 seems an awful long way out especially for a company that’s had a history of building things faster than normal not slower than normal. Most theme parks have been built in about three years from groundbreaking, we’re already about a year out from the initial groundbreaking. I’ll stick with my late 2021 or early 2022 prediction and we’ll see what happens I guess.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I still don’t understand why everyone seems to think this will take so long. 2023 seems an awful long way out especially for a company that’s had a history of building things faster than normal not slower than normal. Most theme parks have been built in about three years from groundbreaking, we’re already about a year out from the initial groundbreaking. I’ll stick with my late 2021 or early 2022 prediction and we’ll see what happens I guess.

Infrastructure.
Roads have to be built, the park's waterways have to be built. Back of house has to be completed before the park opens. You have multiple rides being built. Transportation to and from the current resort has to be created as well. From Universal's stand point, they just opened Hagrid, and will debut JW and maybe some other stuff at USF to hold down the fort for 3-5 years.

 

[Jamesh22]

I still don’t understand why everyone seems to think this will take so long. 2023 seems an awful long way out especially for a company that’s had a history of building things faster than normal not slower than normal. Most theme parks have been built in about three years from groundbreaking, we’re already about a year out from the initial groundbreaking. I’ll stick with my late 2021 or early 2022 prediction and we’ll see what happens I guess.

2021?!?

I'd rather wait and get something amazing (or 'Fantastic') in 2023 than get Universal Six flags in 2021.

Maybe if they were just building all basic clones of other attractions but based on the IP's and rumoured level of theming/immersion there is virtually no chance of 2021 IMO.

 

[Nick]

I still don’t understand why everyone seems to think this will take so long. 2023 seems an awful long way out especially for a company that’s had a history of building things faster than normal not slower than normal. Most theme parks have been built in about three years from groundbreaking, we’re already about a year out from the initial groundbreaking. I’ll stick with my late 2021 or early 2022 prediction and we’ll see what happens I guess.

There’s so much that needs to happen outside of just the park itself (and they can’t even go vertical on the park until quite a bit of infrastructure work is completed).